Review: The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Confession up front: Dan Brown isn't my favourite author. I've read The Da Vinci Code, preferred Angels and Demons, so I thought The Lost Symbol would be an easy read with a bit of entertaining hokum. That's what it offered, peppered as usual with Brown's passion for symbols and determination to link conspiracy theories and ancient folklore with a modern day challenge.

This time he's centred on Washington DC and the myriad myths connecting the foundation of the United States with the Masonic Movement. I'm not American, so maybe my lack of enthusiasm for the topic can be explained that way. Yes, it was interesting to Google pictures of the Capitol building, the Washington Monument and even a dollar bill, to see the so-called 'clues' that Brown laid out for our consumption, but somehow it just didn't grab me. I was slightly startled when the 'hand of the mysteries' symbol that starts the trail turned up on an 18th century statue at Newstead Abbey during a completely unconnected visit, but a book so definitively about the US shouldn't have delivered its biggest shock in the Nottinghamshire garden of Lord Byron.

And then there's the book's big plot twist. There's a fact that's obviously supposed to shock the reader when it's finally revealed. It certainly shocks the characters when it turns up in the narrative on page 588. Sadly, I'd worked it out at about page 260, and all it did was emphasise how clumsily Brown wrote the text to avoid mentioning it earlier.

If you like Dan Brown novels you've probably already read this. If you live in Washington DC it'll be fun to visit the buildings that feature in the story and look for the various symbols. Otherwise I can't think of a real reason to read it. At 670 pages it's about twice as long as it should be.